Regenerative medicine and tissue engineering are rapidly growing fields of biomedicine that seek to create substitute tissues and organs to repair or replace those damaged by injury, illness, aging, or congenital anomaly.

Reconstructive Surgery

Reconstructive surgery is the use of surgery to restore the form and function of the body and the anatomy or functional body part to normal.

Transplantation Immunology

A major barrier to a successful transplant outcome is that the immune system of the recipient will recognize a donor allograft as 'foreign' and seek to remove it. Innovative research in this field aims to minimize clinical side-effects and prevent organ rejection through treatments that do not harm the recipient.

Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field that develops and improves on methods for storing, retrieving, organizing and analyzing biological data. This field includes the development of software tools to generate useful biological knowledge.

Human Performance

Optimizing human performance is defined as the process of applying knowledge, skills and emerging technologies to improve and preserve the capabilities of individuals to execute essential tasks.

Vision Restoration

The development of novel therapies for the prevention and treatment of vision impairment and loss through the use of regenerative medicine research and translation, tissue engineering, cell therapy, gene therapy, neuroprosthetics and transplantation.

Traumatic Brain Injury

Pittsburgh TEAM TBI (Targeted ‎Evaluation, Action, Monitoring of Traumatic Brain Injury) is a research program to conduct multiple monitored clinical interventions for TBI patients. Clinical research trials get underway in December 2013 and will offer powerful new MRI imaging techniques, including High Definition Fiber Tracking, developed in Pittsburgh under Department of Defense support.

Center Highlights

UPMC’s Dr. Marshall Webster Named to VA Healthcare Reform Panel

Marshall W. Webster, MD, a longtime physician at UPMC and a veteran of the U.S. Naval Reserves, has been selected to serve on the Commission on Care panel established by Congress to improve access and delivery of healthcare to our nation’s veterans.

We are very honored to announce that Jack Wagner, former State Senator and Auditor General of Pennsylvania, has joined the CMMR Advisory Council. He brings over three decades of public service and commitment to the Pittsburgh community to this role.

Pitt Awarded $1.25 Million from DOD for Whole-Eye Transplantation Program

Congratulations to CMMR-affiliated principal investigator Vijay Gorantla, MD, PhD and his team on receiving $1.25 million from the Department of Defense (DOD) to establish the nation’s first whole-eye transplantation program. Up to 40 percent of blast injuries... View »

Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University Celebrate 20-Year Partnership

The Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), a joint collaboration between Pitt and CMU, will celebrate its 20th anniversary October 17-18, 2014 with events held on both universities’ campuses.

Over 150 members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Ladies Auxiliary, along with veterans, military servicemembers, and members of the community, gathered at the University of Pittsburgh on September 16, 2014 to celebrate the centennial celebration of the... View »

Projects

The following is a list of CMMR-funded projects through philanthropic gifts:

“Role of the Ipsilateral Motor Complex in Recovery of Hand Function After Spinal Cord Injury”

“Brain Network Activation in Military Personnel with Post-Traumatic Migraine Following mTBI”

“Regeneration and Restoration of Functional Eyelids Using ECM Tissue Engineering”

About the Center

Research that advances medicine for wounded service members—that’s the focus of the Center for Military Medicine Research (CMMR). CMMR explores applications of regenerative medicine, reconstructive medicine, transplantation immunology, and neuroscience, including traumatic brain injury and neuroprosthetics, with the aim of getting innovative therapies to injured soldiers. The University of Pittsburgh is a leader in medical R&D and serving the needs of our military. Investment in Pitt medical research has improved the lives of military service members and their families.